The Bighead Causes an Uproar at HollyShorts Monthly Screening

The HollyShorts Film Festival is held annually in August, but to keep the momentum going all year, the organizers have monthly screenings of outstanding short films. As it turns out, one of them, The Bighead, was a little too much for the audience to handle. Read on for the details.

The screening of Michael Ling’s The Bighead at the November 6 event caused quite an uproar with at least 20 people walking out of the theater because of the film’s violence and scenes that were deemed disgusting, vile, and (everyone’s favorite buzz phrase) “torture porn.”

Apparently it didn’t stop there as the festival organizers have been getting many complaints and being questioned on why they would select such a controversial short film. Additionally, people are filing petitions and threatening to contact the MPAA. What the fuck? There hasn’t been fallout over a movie like this since A Serbian Film surfaced.

And just so we’re clear; this is no fly-by-night operation. HollyShorts has a passion for horror. The festival has a prize deal with FEARnet which awards the best horror short film in August distribution on the platform.

As for The Bighead, I was personally able to check it out and have to say I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Yes, the film does have one particularly intense scene, but trust me; you’ve seen worse. Honestly, I rather enjoyed The Bighead and thought it was a great blend of horror with some effective comedy worked in. Definitely a short film to check out if you get the chance. We’ve included the trailer below for your viewing pleasure.

Meanwhile, the Bighead filmmakers are taking meetings at AFM and trying to turn it into a feature so we’ll keep you posted on that front as well.

And just so we can give everyone some recognition, The Bighead was directed by Michael Ling, who adapted the screenplay from Edward Lee’s classic splatterpunk novel. It stars Raquel Cantu, Carrie Malabre, P. David Miller, Michael Coons, Orson Chaplin, Lance Trezona, Ashley Totin and Cheetah Platt as The Bighead!

Here’s the book’s description to give you an idea of the source material: Who, or what, is the Bighead? Could it be a supernatural psychopath? Whatever it is, it’s on a roll now, raging out of the Virginia backwoods and leaving a trail of blood and horror in his wake.